What you're describing seems to me how a real-world human feels when they grow old and feel estranged from the younger generation. Elves don't grow old on the outside, but they appear to on the inside. That endless old age feeling that the world has passed you by ("what's with kids these days wearing rings in their noses and covering their bodies with tattoos?") and will never swing around back to what you once enjoyed about it would be torture. So do Elves fade just because they do, or because of their reactions to the world? If they continuously thought that whatever was new was desirable, would they fade

Tolkien says of the elves of the third age, that "they tried nothing new but became obsessed with fading" (sorry if not exact quote- haven't got book to hand). We see this in many old people in RL- a lot of reminiscence and "things ain't what they used to be". Also a feeling of knowing what they enjoy and like, so why should they look for new things all the time. For the elves, most of their time is spent in reminiscing- they sing ancient songs and tell ancient tales of their past, they have few dealings with Men and other races on the whole. Compare this with older people in RL who live in retirement homes, spending leisure time talking about the old days- singing songs of their youth and not having much contact with younger people, except, perhaps, their grandchildren. One can continue the comparison further, in that both groups are aware that they are being superseded- by Men in the case of the Elves, and by the younger generations in the case of elderly people. This must be a rather depressing thought. On the other hand, do all Elves fade equally? After her speech to Frodo by her mirror, Galadriel says "I WILL fade and pass into the West...." At that point has she finally conceded the long defeat? Has she resisted "fading" up until that point, maybe with the hope that she can increase her influence and power in ME? Is there a Tolkien topic that you have wanted to look into more deeply and write about your thoughts on it? If so, we'd like to hear from you for the next TORn Amateur Symposium- coming in November. Happy writing!